author(s)
P Khatua, LN Mohapatra, P Nayak and Dibyarani

abstract
Laboratory experiments on feeding potential and functional response of syrphid fly, Eumerus albifrons Walker to cow pea aphid, Aphis craccivora Koch were conducted at Department of Entomology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar during 2018-19. Results showed a high degree of variation in feeding potential of different life stages of E. albifrons on A. craccivora. Higher predatory efficiency (88± 3.31aphids consumed per day) was exhibited by its third instar larva. During its entire larval period it consumed 156.34± 3.01 number of aphids. Functional response studies revealed that different larval stages of E. albifrons exhibited various types of functional responses to the offered prey of A. craccivora. Based on logistic regression analyses the first and second instar of E. albifrons exhibited a Holling’s type II functional response characterized by a hyperbolic curve where as the third instar followed Holling’s type III response curve represented by a sigmoid curve.